Janet's Leaving
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: After season 5. Gill's left. Julie's left. Now it's Janet's time to leave, but is she truly ready to completely give up what she has done all her life?


Disclaimer - I don't own Scott & Bailey.

Authors Note - I have been trying to write a decent S & B series 5 story and I think I'm coming close. This was written as an idea.

* * *

Janet Scott sighed as she finished packing up her things in the box - personal effects, momentos, but since she'd never gotten higher than Detective Sergeant, something which still made her mother surprised and annoyed since she knew her daughter was capable and more than competent enough to run her own unit without trouble, snippy and confused by her daughter's seeming lack of ambition, Janet didn't have a lot of things to take with her. Thinking of her mother made her pause for a second. Dorothy was still alive and kicking, and just as argumentative and not very good at seeing that she didn't really care about promotion or advancement. She wasn't like Rachel. Thinking of her best friend near Gill Murray made her smile.

Rachel had left the MIT a year ago, and she'd gone into the Murder Squad to hone her skills and make her mark. Why she felt the need to do that, Janet really didn't know since Rachel had already proven herself on more than one occasion in her time. True, her first real stint as a recognised SIO had been nothing short of a mess, what with the issues Janet herself had with Taisie and the fear she had her younger, and sometimes incredibly stupid, daughter might be placed on the young sexual offenders register. Thinking about the "Take out the trash" case made Janet feel sick; it was bad enough that assassins existed, but Janet could understand their purpose, but what the sick bastards had done there, murdering people as part of a sick game, the people who they killed, and how they'd almost killed Rachel after Mitch himself had been slashed in the throat would forever haunt Janet.

She'd had nightmares of those days fopr weeks and they still haunted her to this day, along with a hundred other days; Taisie being locked up with her, for interfering in another squads investigation, Mitch alive, though with his throat still slashed, like a zombie, telling her with blood still trickling from the wound, that it was her fault for not telling her mother that the police was not like other work places, that a phone call at the wrong time could mean the difference between taking someone dangerous off the streets where they wouldn't kill again.

Janet knew her guilt was matched only by Rachel's. What had Mitch been thinking when he'd put off telling Rachel about his missing daybook until someone had paid the price for it leaking all that information, and having other deranged people going to the website, and adding lists of people they'd like to see murdered? Janet had told him to tell Rachel, she had needed to know, but Mitch had kept looking for the damn daybook. Was he really that surprised she was furious with him? Janet sighed and shook her head, hoping to push the memory of Mitch gasping for breath on the floor as his throat was slashed.

Unfortunately, that was only one of a million memories she would never be able to forget, god knew she had thousands of them. Chances were she'd never forget how angry Gill could get when something went wrong, how Andy and she had fought like a pair of 5 year olds simply because he'd wanted a chance to vent his spleen on her after dumping him; Andy hadn't cared that she hadn't signed out, that she'd gone out and questioned that school teacher during that Leon murder about that oral sex being performed at a baby's party of all things. He'd only used that as a chance to shout at her.

Thinking of Andy was another host of memories Janet would like to put out of her mind, but she couldn't. Other memories crowded her mind; her time in training, her first days on the beat, catching her first collar and how she'd felt afterwards, feeling the triumph of having it all open to her, joining her fellow woodentops and busting a planned robbery, after years of being in Uniform and collaring suspects, she felt it was time to fulfill a promise by informing her superiors she wanted to become a detective when she'd felt she'd spent enough time gathering experience. Janet remembered her first case as a detective, where all the knowledge she'd gathered from being a woodentop was virtually meaningless, and she remembered how her former colleagues had felt; some had been jealous, others happy for her.

Janet had always hated the rivalry that came between Uniform and the detectives of the police, it might be seen as good for morale to have a bit of rivalry, but sometimes it could go too far. Remembering the last 10 years or so brought a smile to Janet's face, though that smile was tinged with a bit of sadness because it was due to end. Being in the syndicate, working with Gill again after so long, even if having to work with Andy Roper again even if their relationship was now purely work related though Ade had definitely known about her past with him, all those cases where she was forced to see for herself just how disturbing and disgusting ordinary people could be, and how far some were willing to go, meeting Rachel... That last one brought a fond, exasperated smile to Janet's face.

If someone were to spend time with the two women, you'd think they'd been friends for years, but when you heard the story of how rude Rachel had been when she'd first flounced into the syndicate and introduced herself with that massive chip on her shoulder, you wondered how on Earth they'd become friends when Rachel hadn't really been friendly at the time and the last thing Janet had needed was another Taisie in her midst. After the case was solved, Janet and she had become even more friendly - putting aside that car disaster - and things had warmed up between them.

True, they'd had their ups and downs. Arguments. Janet sighed as she sagged and sat down in what would soon be her former chair at her former desk, the same desk and chair she'd sat in for a good few years now. Out of all the arguments she'd had with Rachel, only two would really stand out in her mind as the worst; that court case that was thrown out because Rachel's wonderful ex boyfriend Nick Savage had revealed something he shouldn't have known because Rachel had stupidly told him, but even that was eclipsed by that mess of a marriage Rachel had shared with Sean, where it culminated when Rachel and Kevin had shagged in her guest bedroom, which Rachel was using at the time, and Taisie had seen it. That had pushed the boundaries between them, and things had been ice cold between them for a while. True, they'd become friends again, but now there were barriers between certain things. Rachel had stopped coming to her each time something had happened, and now she had given birth to a little girl of her own, Rachel had to find her own two feet, which she already had.

Thinking of Rachel and her little'un made Janet both grin and grimace; Danielle Bailey may be five years old, and a bundle of energy, but she was a clone of her mother all right. It wasn't just appearance wise, though her eyes were a grey rather than brown, but her personality was a dead ringer for Rachel. Christ. When Rachel had been pregnant with the girl, and told her after all the shit that "Take out the trash" had brought up, everyone in the syndicate hating Rachel's guts, Pete's attitude which she had definitely not needed, Mitch dying, the higher ups threatening to scapegoat Rachel for everything bad happening, that she knew her genes and feared the world wasn't ready for another her, another Rachel Bailey, Janet had made it clear to her that life was important. When Dani had been born, and as she'd grown older, Janet had seen a great deal of her friend in the girl.

God help mankind. Nah, she thought, Danielle was an okay girl. She was kind, much like her mother, but sometimes she had the same thoughtless quality which made Rachel stand out, sometimes not in a good way.

Nah, Dani was nice girl, but she was so much like Taisie it was not funny, only Dani learnt from her mistakes like her mother did after a while whereas Taisie didn't; Janet could still remember how even after being accused by Sam's mother, she'd still used her mobile to text him. Well, the good news was Dani was Rachel's problem, not hers. Rachel had always found it funny she'd had problems with her youngest daughter, though she'd sympathised.

But just you wait, Bailey, Janet thought smugly, when Dani hits her teens, then we'll see who has the last laugh. She smiled more genuinely when she felt familiar arms snake around her waist and a particular perfume assaulted her nose. "Hey, Janet," Rachel's voice was uncharacteristically sad, "are you nearly finished?"

"Yeah," Janet whispered, not doing anything to hide her sadness, but she knew if she didn't leave now she never would. In a louder voice she said, "I wasn't expecting to see you here, Rach. I thought you'd be at the party they're throwing for me." A snort answered her. "I was tempted, but I didn't want to. I wanted my last memory of you as a copper to be in an office. The same one we shared with Gill." Rachel used her hold to gently turn Janet around so they were facing one another. Rachel looked good; she was more professionally dressed than she had when Janet had first met her, but truthfully as she'd improved on her wardrobe as time had passed. But still, Janet had never met anyone who'd cared little about her appearance as Rachel Bailey, but truthfully that scruffy appearance had hidden the woman's instincts. "Thanks," Janet whispered, hoping Rachel didn't notice she was choked up. Unfortunately, she did, and Rachel quietly embraced her again. "Are you sure you want to do this, retire I mean?" Rachel had been asking that question more than once, and she'd been receiving the same answer, though worded differently. "If I don't go now," Janet mumbled into Rachel's hair, "I never will. Besides, I'm tired." Rachel nodded, her eyes shining suspiciously.

She wasn't stupid. She knew why Rachel had fought long and hard to prevent her from leaving; Janet was the last of the trio - Julie, Gill, and herself - to still be in the police. Ever since Julie had taken the reins from Gill, she and Rachel had developed a mother/daughter/boss/subordinate relationship to help Rachel become a better SIO. Granted, Rachel and Julie hadn't always seen eye to eye, but they'd moved on from that, and they took it from there. Julie leaving had been a surprise blow though Rachel had done everything she could in her power to hide it, but Janet had known that with Gill gone, work wasn't as fun as it had been before. She'd only wanted to stay on because she wanted Rachel to develop more. Julie had retired a year ago, and now Janet was leaving the police. Rachel's lips quirked into a smile, but it didn't form fully on her face. "I just don't want you to leave," she whispered, "call me selfish if you like, but I just want you to stay." Janet chuckled, "Rachel, no one can call you selfish. True, you can act like a total cow at times, but you're not selfish."

Rachel grumbled at her compliment and how it was worded. "Just because I'm leaving the Police, doesn't mean I'm moving away from Manchester, you silly mare," Janet said fondly. "I'm definitely going to keep in touch." Rachel nodded, she'd known that of course, but it still felt Janet was cutting herself out of her life. "I'll try and stay in touch better than you did when you were in London," Janet jabbed. Rachel groaned, "You'll never let that go, will yer?" Janet chuckled at her friend's disgruntled look. "Come on, Rachel," Janet whispered and picking up her box, "lets get to that party."

Janet sighed as she walked in through the front door of her house, weighed down by the box and the gifts of wellwishers. Like Rachel, many of her friends hadn't wanted her to leave, and had tried to talk her out of it once or twice before giving up when they realised she wasn't going to change her mind.

She'd promised to keep in touch with everyone, visit them once or twice depending on how things were going her end. Pausing in the hall for a second, she heard the sound of a TV in the living room, and smiled. "I'm home," she called. "Oh, hi love," her mother called through the door. "Dinner's in the oven." After dumping her things on the dining room table, and getting her dinner and putting it on a tray, Janet walked into the living room and sat down.

Her mother smiled at her.

"How does it feel, to be free at last?" she asked. Janet didn't reply as she'd just forked some spaghetti into her mouth, but when she'd swallowed she replied, "Dunno yet. I mean, I've tried to think about what it would be like for years, but now it's happened I'm not sure how to feel. I guess I'm still in the mindset of a copper waiting for the next day in the office, or the interview room." "Hmm," Dorothy replied quietly, but Janet knew she'd say something in a minute.

She was right. "Well, now you've left," Dorothy began, "maybe we can finally be together like a family. No more late nights with,-" she paused, knowing that her daughter would get upset if she said the name on the tip of her tongue, and just continued, "no more staying away, no more rushing off to work. Now you can spend time with us." Dorothy stared her daughter in the eye at the end of her speech, and was surprised to see Janet staring back at her unblinkingly. "You said "no more late nights with" and then you stopped," Janet observed quietly. "Who were you talking about?" She had a good idea, of course; her mother had never been one for subtlety, it was the same with her chosen profession.

Dorothy had never liked her daughter's choice to become a police officer. "Too dangerous," she'd said. "People get killed," she'd said, but Janet had done it anyway. She'd explained her reasons for wanting to become a police officer to her a thousand times before giving up when she'd realised her mother simply didn't understand, and left it at that. Dorothy sighed and admitted, "Rachel."

Janet closed her eyes, groaned and rubbed her eyes. "Mum, we've been over this. Rachel's my best friend-"

"I thought Gill was your best friend!" Janet closed her eyes patiently, counting up to 10 to give herself the strength. "She is, and so is Rachel. Seriously, mum, what is it about Rachel you hate? I'm not a copper, not anymore," she had to bite down the sadness she felt about that even after wishing for retirement for the past couple of years, "but she's still my best friend. True, I might not see her as often as I did, but she is my friend."

Wincing at how raw her throat was becoming, Janet picked up her wine glass and instead of sipping it, just threw her head back and gulped a massive amount of wine.

"See," Dorothy said, pointing at her dramatically. "What now?" Janet grumbled, frustrated that she couldn't even eat her dinner or drink her wine in peace without her flaws being laid out for her. Her mother didn't seem to realise or notice her daughter was getting angrier and angrier as she began pointing out another habit her daughter had picked up from someone whom she really didn't like. "You're beginning to drink like her," she said.

Janet snorted, "Who cares? She passed on some things to me, I did likewise to her. Now would you please shut up, I just want to eat my dinner in peace." Taken by surprise, Dorothy shut up, realising she had indeed disturbed Janet whilst she was eating, so she shut up. Basking in the silence with relief, Janet ate her dinner and drank smaller amounts of wine to keep her mother quiet; she'd had quite a bit to drink at the party before she'd left.

It hadn't been a big party. Everyone knew that she didn't really like them all that much, oh she'd stay for them, but she didn't really like them. Anyway, tomorrow was the first day for the rest of her life. No more interviews, though that did hurt since she'd enjoyed them, and god knew what. She would miss it, though there were definitely things she wouldn't miss. When she was finished, she took the box upstairs to her room; she'd sort through it later, and display some of her personal effects around the house. When she got to actually doing it, Dorothy was watching her. She shook her head when Janet hung up the framed copies of her certificates, reading the ranks; Detective Sergeant, or Detective Constable.

"I still don't see why you didn't try to rise higher," she said again, "I mean, Gill and Rachel have both climbed higher than you-" "I was wondering when you were going to mention them," Janet interrupted bitterly; she was so fed up with her mother telling her what she should've done so many times, and bringing her best friends into the mix to prove a point. "Janet!" Dorothy said affronted. "No, mum," Janet sighed as she turned to face her mother, tired of this discussion. "I joined the police to find out what happened to Veronica Hastings. I didn't plan on being promoted at all, if I became a DS, then okay. I never wanted to become a DI or a DCI. With a bit of help, I found out what happened to Veronica, and put Geoff behind bars where the little bastard belongs. Anyway, it's too late now, I've retired, and I'm not going back. So can we please drop it?" Dorothy nodded, still not happy with the way Janet had spoken to her, not that Janet really cared. She was just sick and tired of the way her mother fixated on her past choices, and how she didn't rise very high. Besides, it was too late now, she wasn't in the job anymore, and yet the stubborn woman still went on about it! Janet had never wanted to be SIO even if she had the experience and the abilities needed for such a role; it was too tiring, too much politics, and lots of responsibility.

* * *

Janet had hoped when she'd retired she and the girls would have a much closer relationship. She should have known it would not be easy. Ever since that time Taisie had been in trouble for those indecent photos with Sam, she'd realised how out of touch with them she was, though there had been signs for years. Taisie's accusing face still continued to haunt her, but truthfully there were years between them that represented the gap. Knowing she had to somehow bridge the gap, make the girls see their mother was there for them instead of dashing off to work all the time, would be anything but easy. But she had the time now, she'd use it wisely, though it wouldn't be easy. Janet had always fought long and hard to have some kind of place in her daughter's lives, but unfortunately the distance between them caused by her job was still there, and there were years to work through. But Janet hadn't gotten where she was by luck.

If she would need the rest of her life to make things up between herself, Taisie, and Elise, then she would. Her daughters had practically grown up, and had moved away at the first opportunity. Ordinary parents would've seen such a move as a great time, because it meant their kids were adults, and willing to stand on their own two feet. But Janet saw Taisie and Elise moving away as something more heartbreaking and hurtful, they were moving away so they could have a chance of freedom away from their workaholic police officer mother. Now that hurt Janet, it really did because she felt her daughters were trying to score a point in a really cruel game. Many people thought Janet was an exemplary parent, and in many areas she was, but like everyone else, she was simply human and made mistakes.

Too bad her children had never gotten over the worst of them. When Janet had divorced Adrian since it was the most logical thing to do after he'd discovered her sleeping with Andy again, and their inability to really mesh since her mother had needed to stay with her to recover, Janet had watched both girls to see how they felt about it all. Yeah, they'd resented her for what had happened with Andy, but truthfully they weren't really surprised by the divorce. They'd seen it coming a long time, though both of them had tried to prevent it happening, but it just hadn't happened. Elise and Taisie had adapted to the new situation about the divorce, even if it had been settled a couple of years ago. They both saw their parents regularly. The only problem was Janet had still been a copper until recently, and so she hadn't had much time with the girls. Now she did and was now trying not to struggle finding things for herself to occupy her time with, the girls were slowly coming to her. It was only quick visits; chats, lunches, dinners, that type of thing, but nothing really serious. Both girls had uni, or in Taisie's case college. When she'd retired, she'd told both girls, but she hadn't forced them to visit her continuously in case she succeeded in driving them out of her life forever.

One of the good things about being retired was being able to spend time with Gill. She hadn't really visited her old friend after she'd retired herself, but that was due to the fact Janet didn't want to really see her own future. She'd known that sooner or later she would retire, but couldn't face up to that fact. That was why she hadn't seen her old friend much. Janet wasn't really sure if retirement suited Gill. When she'd been SIO, she'd always been a snappy dresser, makeup and hair neat and tidy, now she was trying to appear casual, and yet somehow she wasn't really managing. Janet decided to put that out of her mind for the time being. She'd worry about that later, just like she'd worry about how SHE appeared to her friends, her mother and her daughters. "What've you been doing now you've left?" Gill asked when they'd both sat down to drink their teas. Janet shrugged, making Gill smile into her cup; that shrug, so Rachel. Janet had become so much like Rachel, even their gestures and mannerisms were becoming identical. Next, Rachel would start acting like Janet if she wasn't already! "Not a lot," Janet admitted quietly, sipping her tea and not noticing Gill's amusement. "I've been trying to build bridges with the girls," she said after a moment of debating whether Gill needed to hear this, "but its hard." "I know what you mean."

"Sammy?" Gill nodded. "I did my best to spend time with him when I was still working, but sometimes I felt he'd grown up too fast."

"Yeah, I feel the same with Elise and Taisie; one's practically 40 years old mentally, the other is stuck at 20. I sometimes feel like a stranger to them, and I still think back to what happened with Taisie when I was working on that Take out the Trash case."

"Julie told me about all that, especially how Rachel was pregnant with Dani," Gill remarked. Janet chuckled. Rachel had asked for Gill to visit her at the hospital on the night she'd given birth to Dani, now the little girl had Gill wrapped around her little finger. Gill steered the conversation along, "When I'd told Sammy I was retiring, he was over the moon, but he was worried about me 'cause he knew how much I loved my job. It also gave him the inspiration of becoming a copper, like me." Her smile faded slightly as another thought entered her head.

"I sometimes wonder if he wanted to become a copper, not because of me, but because policing was the only thing out there for a career."

"Elise and Taisie would never want to become coppers themselves, they've spent their lives thinking I don't want to spend any of my time with them because of my job," Janet said.

"I didn't say they should," Gill replied, "I was just saying I was worried Sammy felt that being a copper himself was the only way to go. Taisie and Elise both know it's not. Give them a bit of time. You've put a lot of yourself into the Job, and they know it. This is the problem with people who don't know the first thing about the Job; we're seen as filth 'cause we drag the filth into court, and then into prison." Janet wasn't surprised by Gill's use of the present tense; many ex coppers still thought of themselves of being in the Job even after they'd retired. Gill went on, "They don't realise sometimes the job gets us down, and it can cost lives." Janet stiffened, those three words were spoken with emphasis. Gill was talking about Mitch, though she wasn't trying to be hurtful. No, she was just stating a fact. Janet knew that when Gill wanted to be hurtful, she would make her voice as biting as possible. Though she'd tried to put that mess behind her, Mitch's death was one of the reasons why - no, actually, one of the million reasons she'd had of wanting to leave the police.

She was pissed Gill had even brought it up. Seeing the look on Janet's face, Gill said quickly, "I don't mean to shove Mitch's death in your face, Janet, that's not what I was saying. You know that."

"I know what you're saying, and you're right." Gill smiled, and changed the subject. "Janet, what're you planning to do now? I know you. I know you can't just live your life doing nothing." Janet snorted. "Yeah." That was the problem. There was nothing she could really do; she had spent so long as a copper, she didn't know any other kind of life. It was sad, but it was true. That was a thought.

Gripped by the sudden inspiration, Janet leaned forwards, taking Gill by surprise. "I could become a private investigator." Gill blinked, "That's not what I imagined you'd say, but it sounds like a good idea." Then she appeared somewhat sad. "Gill, what's wrong?" "I should've thought of that," Gill said, pouting.

The childish way she said that made Janet laugh. "Oh, my god, some time ago I told Rachel I'd become like her, and now it looks like I'm not alone. You even sound like her." Gill glared at her, affronted though Janet couldn't see it as she'd bent over double to let the laughter out, but she heard it. "Janet, there's no reason to insult me, just because I sounded a bit childish-" Janet laughed harder, and Gill couldn't help but join in once she'd stopped her glaring and started to see the funny side of what Janet said. "Still, I'm not joking. Maybe becoming a PI might be good for us." Gill jumped in surprise at the last word. "What do you mean, us?" she asked. Janet grinned at her, and Gill blinked in surprise at how...Rachel like she appeared.

Gill had lost count of the number of times the brunette copper had dragged poor, impressional Janet into so many situations...God, Rachel had totally corrupted her old friend. "Oh, come on, Gill," she whispered, "for weeks you've been trying to do things, yet you find yourself restless. You miss it, don't you?" There was something so...compelling in Janet's voice that Gill looked down at the liquid in her mug, and she nodded. "Yeah. I miss it, yeah. You're right, yeah okay. But can I do it? I mean, when I left I was drinking on duty. Evy Pritchard smelt it on my breath, what if I lose my bottle again? I mean I had you and Rachel keeping an eye on me, but seriously it was a close thing."

"Gill, I'm not talking about going back into the Job. I'm talking about going into business, for ourselves. We won't be keeping the same hours we did in the past, and if we need to work with the Met, then we'll do it for ourselves. Julie can join herself if she wants, but I mean we have all this experience. Why not use it?" Gill still looked tempted but also unconvinced, so Janet pressed her argument. "Come on, Gill. The cases we'll go into probably won't be as intense as the ones we had to tackle, but why not?" Gill sighed. She'd spent the majority of her life solving crimes, now she was out of that life she found it harder and harder for her to get herself reacquainted with normal everyday life. Trouble was it was for those sad bastards who spent all their time on their mobiles, talking about the weather and who was winning the X factor. But she couldn't, she couldn't reacquaint herself to living like an ordinary person. Then again 30 years of her spending her life as a copper could do that for you. Patiently she ran through the pros and cons of becoming a PI. She had purposefully tried to put that life behind her for Sammy's sake, but she couldn't. Sammy. Oh, god; that was a con if she ever saw one. How would Sammy or Orla take her becoming a PI? After running through her mind the list of pros and cons, Gill realised she had more pros than cons. Finally, she nodded.

* * *

"I thought you were gonna stop with all this!" Taisie's shouted, her eyes flashing angrily. Janet winced at the volume of her youngest daughter's voice, but she kept her face as cool as possible. She was mindful of Elise and her mother's presences as they sat in the living room. Janet had spent the entire day wondering how she was going to break the news to her family she was becoming a PI. Like Gill, she'd run through her mind the probable pros and cons of becoming a PI, and her family's reaction was a definite con. Deep down she couldn't blame them for being angry, after all she had spent the majority of their lives - Elise and Taisie - spending as little time with them, though Janet knew they knew it wasn't deliberate. "I should've guessed you couldn't resist," Taisie went on. Janet snapped out of her thoughts only to blink when Taisie shoved her face so close to Janet's that she had to step back instinctively though she'd tried to hold back the urge - if there was one thing she hated about her daughter's personality, it was how Taisie just shoved her face into other people's personal space as though her shouting wasn't adequate enough to get the message across. She didn't dare look at her mother or eldest daughter. "Couldn't resist what?" Janet snapped back; she was done being a verbal punching bag for her child. "Taisie, I'm not going to investigate murders, spend all my time in a Police station. I'm done with that. All I'm gonna do is investigate things that are small and simple. That's it. Apart from that, I'll still come home. It'll be like a normal 9 to 5 job." "Yeah, but it won't, will it?" Taisie sneered. "You'll still find excuses to stay away from us."

The moment the sentence was out of her mouth, the hot headed girl realised in an instant she had said the wrong thing because her mother's face morphed into her angry expression. But this expression became even angrier.

"How dare you!"

Taisie almost wished her mother was shouting, but the whisper was even more terrifying.

"How dare you say to me I'd find excuses to stay away from you. Yeah, I admit I'm not a perfect parent like others think, but do you know something Taisie?" Janet leaned forwards to hiss angrily in her daughter's face - after having her daughter do it to her, Janet felt it right she pay Taisie back.

"No one is. Do you really think the people whom you know are good parents? Look at some of the kids in your school who've been arrested or charged for being drug dealers, or thieves. Yeah, no need to look surprised. I'm your mother. I keep watch over you; one of the perks of being a copper is being made aware of what is happening in the school their children go to. You might think that's a breach of privacy, in a way it is. "No parent is perfect, I'm sorry you honestly feel that way, Taisie. I joined the Police to find out why and how one of my friends was murdered when she was a long way off from 20. I wanted to find the bastard, and do you remember what happened when I did? I was stabbed. I was stabbed in the same kitchen that dinner was prepared in. Blood poured from my stomach all over the place until it became a crime scene. Do you think I wanted that to happen?" Janet had been whispering in a low tone to demonstrate her low impression of her daughter's manner before she was screaming into Taisie's shocked face.

Finally, she panted and breathed fire into Taisie's face. "It took weeks of counseling before I realised it was MY fault for not suspecting Geoff, that it wasn't Rachels' for even getting it sooner than me. Then again, it was never her fault, never mind what the daft cow thought. I made the mistake of trusting him because I had committed the cardinal sin of putting my trust of someone I barely knew above the wellbeing of not just myself, but of you." Janet turned around and sat heavily on the couch, before raising her head and glaring at Taisie. "When I retired, I never planned on becoming a PI. But I can't stop thinking of it. It's like an addiction. You know, Sherlock Holmes, always going off on cases to fuel his brain? That's me. I can't help it. "When I joined," she added in a smaller voice, finally taking in the anger she felt at her daughter's belief she was being fundamentally selfish, "I wanted to also protect the public. Believe me Taisie, when you on the beat, you quickly see the kind of scum that are there, but you're lucky. You really have no inkling of what and who is out there; muggers, pedophiles, murderers... You'll never meet them, or if you do it'll only be glimpses or on TV. And if that meant I couldn't see you, when I was doing my hardest to stop men, women, bastards from murdering other innocent people, then what does that make me?" Taisie swallowed, but she didn't reply. No-one else spoke either.

* * *

Over the next month, Julie met up with Gill and Janet to become Private Investigators. They were off to a slow start, but eventually they found a really easy couple of cases to solve, and then they put the ad for their services in the local newspaper. Being former coppers, the three women HATED the press by nature, and experience told them never to trust the media in any way. But the newspapers did have their uses of simply running the basics of the stories and putting them down in the ads columns. They also had a website set up. It wasn't elaborate, just a straight forward website that aired some of the basic cases the trio solved, and being former coppers they weren't stupid enough to put anything sensitive online.

It was during this time that the BBC was re-airing the Sherlock TV series, and the idea for Consulting Detectives came in. It was Julie who came up with the idea of using their new private investigation firm to help the police, but there was a problem with that. The police didn't like outsiders like PI's poking their noses in because usually they were amateurs, and mistakes could result in the case being thrown out. That would only be true if Julie, Janet and Gill weren't former police officers, that was the edge they needed. It didn't take long to get permission from the Chief and Assistant Chief Constables; Julie and Gill's reputations and Janet Scott's knowledge and expertise, combined with their willingness to give cases their express advice was welcomed, at least by the higher ups. The SIOs and DS's involved in various investigations weren't that happy; they didn't like the idea of three retired coppers "has beens" coming back, telling them what to do.

Unfortunately, they didn't have much choice in the matter, and truthfully Julie and Gill weren't there to make the SIOs feel overshadowed, they were simply there to help, to give out ideas. That was it. But it was just so...sad the SIOs saw them as unwanted competition when all they were trying to do was help. Still, they did have some allies. Rachel herself was over the moon at the prospect of working with Gill and Julie after so long, especially Gill. It also gave the two elder former coppers the chance to witness Rachel in action as a full DI. True, she wasn't completely in charge of the Murder Squad unit, but she had enough authority to make a difference. To say Gill was proud of her former protege was an understatement. It was just a pity Rachel was the only senior officer who truly appreciated them, but the PIs could cope with that. They had a few allies who appreciated them, that was enough.

But even Rachel didn't want them looking down over her shoulders all the time and they knew it after having known the younger woman for so long, she wanted to make her own way in the world and they understood that. So they'd varied their cases and their consultancy. On a personal note their private lives weren't that bad. Their consultancy jobs meant their working hours were more humane and less extreme, meaning they had a lot more time with their families on a good day, and they weren't always working in Nicks. They had their other cases to work on, most of them so tediously dull the three could solve them in an hour, but there were easier ones. Taisie still hadn't apologised to Janet for her earlier accusations for not caring about them and putting her detective job above everyone else, but frankly Janet couldn't muster the effort to properly care. If Taisie believed she didn't care about them, that was her own opinion, but Janet had caught the stubborn set to her daughter's face more than once, and if Taisie thought for one moment that she hadn't seen her daughter's look of sorrow and regret, then she wasn't that smart. Taisie knew she was in the wrong, she was just too prideful to admit it until much later. It was how Taisie's mind worked. But Janet knew her bolshy arrogance was fading.

All was well in Rachels' world. The cases she was working on were straight forward enough to solve without Janet, Gill, and Julie's interventions. But still their help and advice was more than welcome in any event, and it was a plus to once again work with Julie and Gill again after they'd retired. In Janet's case her own retirement was as recent as though they'd merely walked out of a station and back in again through the front doors again. The good news was they didn't consult on the cases she was working on all the time, they knew she was more than capable of solving cases by herself - that mess that was her first stint as acting DI was a good lesson for her, actually it had been nothing but learning lessons - and she was competent enough to stand on her own two feet. Still it was great to have their help and advice from time to time, so long as they didn't push themselves too far into the cases she and others were working on. Rachel wanted to work with them again, but she didn't want them to impose themselves on the police. The good news was they had enough work to go on as it was. With the three PIs working alongside the police and independently, they were busily investigating cases that had been cold for decades. Rachel had heard of retired coppers who'd gone on to become private investigators, but she had never heard them become as successful as Janet, Julie, and Gill. Working with them again was considerably different - now she was the ranking officer, they were consultants, and now they weren't in the Job anymore, she now had a more closer relationship with Julie and Gill. It was also informal, which was a plus. She'd always been overawed by Gill and Julie when they'd been coppers, their rank had made them almost unapproachable when she'd been a DS and a DC respectively.

Janet was pleased that Taisie had apologised. It had taken her over a fortnight for her daughter to get her finger out, and grow up. Taisie might have said she didn't want to keep fighting anymore, but Janet had the feeling her daughter was only saying sorry because she'd been proven wrong, and no longer wanted to hold up the hurt pride front. Temper tantrums aside she was pleased; her daughters and I had always had problems because of her job in the police, but now she had more human hours her relationships with both of them was getting better and better. In the meantime her casework with the police with Gill and Julie was going well; it felt good to just hand out advice to police officers even if they saw her and her friends as antiques, but it felt even better being able to do her own thing instead of hanging back late at night, and she could spend equal amounts of time with her family. She'd always had a step through the door - out again in a few minutes relationship with her family, and she had hated it. But maybe now that would change now she was speaking to Elise and Taisie again. True, the conversations were awkward but they were getting better. Yep, Janet reflected, maybe the future wouldn't be so bad.


End file.
